Study Project 2016, Second Quarter

An update 6/10: we will not be meeting until our new study begins on June 24th. We've been at it hard all year and are taking a well-deserved break. We may still meet up casually to discuss some final notes on our recent study, if you're interested in just meeting up to get to know us and feel it out before the new study begins, or have questions about Q3, get at us! Otherwise, see everyone on 6/24!GDCH

“...a few opening questions: What is the nature of a form of being that presents a problem for the thought of being itself? More precisely, what is the nature of a human being whose human being is put into question radically and by definition, a human being whose being human raises the question of being human at all? Or, rather, whose being is the generative force, historic occasion, and essential byproduct of the question of human being in general? How might it be thought that there exists a being about which the question of its particular being is the condition of possibility and the condition of impossibility for any thought about being whatsoever? What can be said about such a being, and how, if at stake in the question is the very possibility of human being and perhaps even possibility as such? What is the being of a problem?” - Jared Sexton

For our second quarter of 2016, we will embark on new, uncharted terrains where negation and antagonisms meet. "Pessimism, Nihilism, and other negations" is our attempt to cautiously and fearlessly access the negative perspectives aimed at civil society. We begin with introductory texts by Marx, which offer his perspective on the human condition, alienation, civil society, and a number of themes which will come up later in the study. The critical theory section offers two essays by Frankfurt school heavy-lifters Benjamin and Adorno and Horkheimer. With these foundations, we will shift forward in the direction of Fanon, one of the greatest anti-colonialists of the 20th century, who inspired the Afro-Pessimism we will focus on in the following weeks. We will ease into Afro-Pessimism with commentary from anglophone anti-state communists, R.L. and Chris Chen. Using familiar terminology and contemporary perspectives, these essays will make us more comfortable with the next few weeks where we will be tackling larger essays by Frank B. WIlderson, III and Jared Sexton, find what they mean when they argue anti-blackness is a component of humanity and the emancipation of black . After this, we will move on to the development of Queer Nihilism, which like Afro-Pessimism, identifies an irreconcilability of the queers emancipation with the current configuration of humanity and civil society, mandating destruction of the world as we know it. After this and a visit to the LIES journal and a negative feminist critique offered by CE, we will take on the work of Monsieur Dupont, a French duo, who came to call their (anti)-politics a "Nihilist Communism". After this, we will venture into yet more critical nihilisms, contemporary and classic.

At the present, our gathering time and location will remain the same, Fridays, at 7pm, at the Montrose Center, 401 Branard St. Houston, TX 70006, Room 328 on the Third Floor. This may be subject to change and I would follow our blog for any updates. We would still prefer you contact us and let us know you're coming. Please also do so if you have any questions. This study, unlike the last, will not consist of a larger text being read week to week, so if there's a particular study of the section you are more interested in, contact us, but we'd prefer at least some of these ideas be studied in succession.

As usual, we have two open "bad weather" days, which may get used, but will be occupied by texts decided through the course of the study if they are not used. Below you will find the syllabus and a map to where we are gathering.

"The coincidence of the changing of circumstances and of human activity or self-changing can be conceived and rationally understood only as revolutionary practice." - Karl Marx“When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe”- Frantz Fanon“... just as early industrial capitalism moved the focus of existence from being to having, post-industrial culture has moved that focus from having to appearing.” - Guy Debord